Collapsible and folding barrel.



APPLIUATIDK FILED MAY 5; 1910.

Patented Nov. 15, 1910.

INVENTOR w n'uzsses La fa zzzay k' 7, the hinges 7 being located @AdATENT CGLLAPSIBLE AND FOLDING BARREL.

Specification of Letters Yatent.

Patented not". in, rain.

Application filed May 5, 1910. Serial No. 559,457.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, SIMON PETER Srrrs- NAGLE, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, residing at Greensburg, in the county of Westmorelandand State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Collapsible and Folding Barrels, of which the followingis a specification, reference being had-therein to the accompanyingdrawing.

This invention relates to collapsible and folding barrels, and theinvention has for its primary object to provide a novel barrel or cratethat can be easily folded to occupy a comparatively small space fortransportation and storage.

Another object of this invention is to provide a barrel or crateparticularly designed for fruit, vegetables and such material notrequiring a waterproof or air tight housing.

It is a well known fact that barrels, when shipped-or expressed totheirowners, in an empty condition, require as much space as though filled orpacked To minimize in the space heretofore required for empty barrelsand to reduce the expense incurred by return shipment, I have devised mycollapsible and foldable barrel.

My invention will be hereinafter described in detail and thenspecifically pointed out in the appendedclaim.

In the drawing :-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a. barrel inaccordance with my invention, Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of thesame, F ig. 3 is an elevation of-the barrel collapsed, Fi 4 is a crosssectional View of the same, an Fig. 5 is a plan of the barrel showing amodified form of closure or' head.

To put my invention into practice, 1 provide a plurality of slats orstaves l'and flexibly connect these slats by wires 2 and 3, said wiresextending through the slats or staves adjacent to the ends thereof. The'ends of the wires 2 and 3 are suitably connected together, therebyprovidin two bar rel sections that can be easily co lapsed, asillustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawing.

Hinged, as at 5, to the slats or staves of the barrel is a sectionalbottom plate or head comprising semi-circular sections 6having thestraight edges thereof hinged, as at upon the opposite side of thebottom plate or head from the hin es 5, thus permitting of the sections6 eing swung inwfidly to allow the barrel to be collapsed.

An outward movement of the sections 6 is limited by inwardly pro ectinglugs 8, carried by oppositely disposed slats or staves of the barrel.

Pivotally connected to the inner sides of two OPPositely dis termediatethe en s thereof are two semicircular rings or bands 9, hin ed together,as at 10, and these rings or ban s are adapted to be folded when thebarrel is collapsed, but when extended to a circular form they areadapted to maintain the slats or staves in a circular form. In someinstances the rings or hands '9' can be made detachable relatively tothe barrel, whereby they can be entirely removed, while in otherinstances the rings or band can be made of a greater diameter than thebarrel, whereby the slats or stavw will be swelled 'or extendedoutwardly intermediate the ends of the barrel.

osed slats or staves in Hinged or loosely connected to one of the slatsor stares l at the upperend of the bar rel, as at 11 is a circular topplate or head 12 adapted "to close the upper end of the barrel, the topplate or head swinging inwardly when the barrel is collapsed. In lieu ofthe top plate or head 12, I can provide the barrel with a flexible head,as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing, consisting of sectorshaped pieces offabric'13, as burlap, suitably secured to or staves, with elongated, asat lei; whereby the ends of the pieces can be tied to close the upperend of the barrel.

From the foregoing it will be that I devised a collapsible barrelcomprising two flexible sections, with means for retaining the sectionsin an extended and cylindrical form, and while in the drawing there areillustrated the preferred embodi ments of the invention, it is to beunderstood that the structural elements thereof can be varied orchanged, as to the size, shape and manner of assemblage withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention,

Having now described my invention what I claim as new, i

A. collapsible barrel comprising'a body portion formed of a plurality ofstaves, wires extending through the upper and lower ends of the stares-whereby the stares are flexibly connected together and to provide apair of sections, a bottom plate formed of two semicircular sectionshinged togelher at their opposing edges and each hinged to a section ofthe body portion and adapted to fold inobserved \vurdly when the bodyportion of the lmrrel is collapsed, inwardly-projecting lugs carried bythe sections of the body portion and adapted to limit the outwardmovement of the sectional bottom plate, a sectional rim or band arrangedwithin and positioned intermediute the ends of said body portion,

"means for hinging the sections of the rim or band together, means forpivotally connecting the sections of the rim or band to the sections ofthe body portion, and means In testimony whereof I afiix my signzitnre15 in the presence of two Witnesses.

bIMON PETER SPITSNAGLE. Witnesses:

NnLL P. MGGRIEF, W. W. KNABLE.

